Judson at 6 months

Judson is already six months old! He surprised us and started crawling at 5 1/2 months- a lot earlier than I expected. He really began crawling before he was sitting up on his own really well. Now he is getting all over the house and pulling up on as much as he can. We put our Christmas tree out in our front living room so we wouldn't have to worry about Judson getting into the tree and ornaments, and I have had to move Scout's water to the laundry room because he got himself soaked with that find soon after he became mobile! Life is a little crazier now, but at least he is enjoying his newfound freedom and ability to explore his surroundings. He got his first cold last week and has been not feeling well. I had forgotten how tiring it is taking care of a sick baby! Hopefully he will get well soon- for everyone's sake.


He likes to look out the window

Thanksgiving

We had a low-key Thanksgiving day this year, spent with just our family and Barrett's brother. Since Barrett's family was coming the weekend after the holiday, we opted to do a simple meal on Thanksgiving day, so we grilled some chicken and watched the Saints game. Then Barrett's parents and Susanne and Elijah and Gracie Beth came for the weekend and we cooked our turkey and had our traditional meal with them. We had a nice visit and the cousins had a great time playing together as usual- it was a little crazier with a baby in the mix, but everyone survived!

Two little turkeys:

Fall Festival

This year for the Fall Festival, Caleb dressed up as Obe Won Kenobe, Isabelle as a ballerina, and Judson as Yoda. Originally, Isabelle was planning on being Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, since she has a pair of red sparkly shoes. I had ordered their costumes online this year to save from having to go shopping for them, except the package didn't get here in time for the Fall Festival, so I ended up being one of the crazy shoppers out the night before at Target getting costumes. They didn't have the Dorothy costume in stock, so she opted for a pink tutu to wear with her ballet leotard. We went to their school for trunk or treat, and they got to play games and get candy. It was a fun evening and Judson was a good sport in his yoda costume, too!

New Orleans

We decided to go to New Orleans for the Columbus Day weekend since the kids had a three-day weekend. We didn't take any family vacations this summer since we were a little busy with a new baby and moving, so we thought it would be nice to get away for a couple days. We left Saturday morning and got to New Orleans by lunch time. We were able to check into our hotel first- we stayed at the Hilton right on the river and we had a river view out our window, so that was really nice. Then we walked down the street to Mother's Restaurant for lunch. We had to wait 30 minutes or so outside in a line just to get in and get seated, and by the time we sat down, Judson was getting tired and also very fussy. We soon realized that he was setting a precedent for almost every other mealtime that we were there. We ended up getting our food to go and eating it on a bench before heading to the Insectarium. We all had a lot of fun at the Insectarium- even Judson was happy riding in the Moby Wrap. We got to see all kinds of bugs and even a butterfly garden. The best part of the day was going to the bug cafe and sampling some real bugs!! Seriously, we actually ate bugs. Crickets and worms. The crickets were baked into chocolate chip cookies. As you can see from the pictures, the kids were not too sure about this at first, but they finally tried them and actually went back for another one! Barrett and I tried one too, of course. It wasn't that bad- more of a mind over matter thing. As a remembrance of their experience, we got Caleb and Isabelle each a t-shirt that says "I ate a bug at the Insectarium". YUM!

We did a lot of walking, and it's a good thing we purchased the ride on stroller, because Caleb and Isabelle both took turns sitting or standing on the back. We walked through the French Quarter, ate breakfast Sunday and Monday at Cafe Du Monde, walked around the Riverwalk mall, and took the free ferry ride to Algiers point and back, so the kids got to go across the river on a boat. Sunday afternoon we decided to make a trip to a local ice cream store called the Creole Creamery that we had seen featured on the Food Network. It looked like fun and they have a lot of flavors to choose from. We had never taken the street cars, so we thought that would be fun to try. First we had to walk to catch the bus, which took us to the street car, which we waited for, and then after the street car dropped us off at our stop, we still had to walk a few blocks to get to the ice cream shop. This was now just the perfect time for Judson to be fussy again. After we ate our ice cream, we went back the same way, and in the street car Judson screamed his head off the entire way back- lots of fun. So, our ice cream outing took about three hours from start to finish! All in all, we did have a good time, even though it was a little crazy at times. But hey, that's what traveling with a four month old is like. The kids had fun, so it was worth it.

Butterfly garden at the Insectarium:

The Bug Cafe:

Don't you want to try a bite?






Eating breakfast at Cafe Du Monde:


Riding the Algiers Ferry:

In front of the River:

Lots of changes

Well, it again has been awhile since my last post. Life has been non-stop craziness for the past month and a half, since we moved to Jackson. Barrett was back and forth between here and Eglin for the month of August, and my parents came for about a week to help me out while he was away. We gradually unpacked all the boxes and now we are hanging pictures, so our house is beginning to feel more like home. In the midst of moving, unpacking, and taking care of a baby, Caleb and Isabelle started their new school, Christ Covenant. We are really happy with the school, and Isabelle has adjusted very quickly and has made new friends. It is taking Caleb a little longer to adjust, but I see a gradual improvement over the last few weeks. It's just going to take hime a little longer for Jackson to feel like home again. Caleb also started soccer here a few weeks ago, so that has kept us busy during the week, and he also began taking Karate once a week after school. He is really enjoying both activities. Isabelle is taking ballet at school once a week and loves it. Judson is getting big so fast! I can hardly believe that he is already more than 3 1/2 months old! He began rolling over right at three months, so that is his new trick. He is getting really good at it now, and sometimes I find him halfway across the floor from where I set him down! He is very active now and constantly waving his hands. He "found" his toes a couple weeks ago, so it's fun to watch him grab them when he plays. He is doing great at night and sleeping very well, too. He would be content to be held all day if someone would, but he does enjoy his johnny jump up and his other activity chairs placed throughout the house. We have discovered that he is a thumb sucker, too. He'll take the pacifier, but now prefers his own thumb. We tease Isabelle that she taught him that :).
Barrett has been working some shifts with MEA this month although he doesn't officially start full time until October. It's been good for him to get a feel for what to expect, and probably good that I don't get too spoiled with having him home all the time this month!
We are really enjoying our new house and love the neighborhood. There will be some neighborhood festivals that we look forward to attending and meeting more neighbors. So far, all our neighbors have been very welcoming and it will be fun to get to know everyone better. It has also been so convenient living right down the street from our church. We have been able to just walk, which is great. BSF, the bible study I do each week, also meets at Trinity, so I'll be able to walk to that as well. I have enjoyed living a lot closer to the kid's school than we did in Florida. I don't have to be in my car half the time, like I was before.
It's been nice to move back to a place that is familiar and where we already have friends. It has made the transition a lot easier, but it is still a major adjustment for all of us. We really miss our church and all our friends in Florida. However, the Lord is faithful and we know that he will provide new friends for all of us and show us how we can serve Him here in Mississippi.

Unpacking paper:

Hey, let go of my hair!

First day of school






Getting a kiss from Scout

Judson at 2 months

Judson is already two months old! What a sweet little fellow his is, too. He is smiling and laughing a lot now, and it is so cute. He loves watching the fan and the lights, and he enjoys it when we make funny noises. At his two month check-up, he is already weighing in at a whopping 13 lbs., 7 oz! He is in the 97th percentile for both height and weight. I guess he is taking after his big brother! He had to get three immunizations in the legs (hence the bandaids in the pictures) but he was a brave boy and just cried a little bit and then he was fine. He now wears a bib as part of his regular attire because he spits up so frequently. At least this way his clothes don't get saturated.




Right now, we are living in a house full of boxes. The packers came yesterday and got almost the whole house packed up for our move. Now we just wait until Monday for them to finish up and load the truck. On Tuesday morning we will head on up to Jackson. Tomorrow will be our last Sunday at church and we'll have to say a lot of goodbyes (at least for me and the kids, since Barrett will be back for the rest of August).

It will be fun to get to our new house and do some furniture shopping, too. The kids are looking forward to getting bunk beds for their room that they will share, so that is on our priority list when we arrive. I ordered matching quilts for Caleb and Isabelle which everyone likes and I think will work for both of them.

Tomorrow evening we are planning on going out to the Harborwalk in Destin, which has been one our favorite spots to go as a family. We are really going to miss going there and enjoying the beautiful views. I will miss driving over the Destin bridge and taking in the gorgeous emerald green and turqoise blue water.

Judson's baptism

We had Judson baptized on Sunday, July 18. Barrett's parents and Susanne and her children were able to come for it. Judson did great the whole time, and when he started to get a little fussy, I just stuck his pacifier in his mouth and he was fine. He didn't even flinch when Pastor Tyson put the water on his head. We were so glad to be able to baptise him at Westminster, which we have called our church home and family for the last three years. It is sad to think that we will be leaving so soon. We have really felt loved and embraced by our church family here and we will miss everyone dearly.
After church, we had our family as well as Bill and Mary Ann Tyson and Beryl and Carolyn Hubbard over for lunch. We had a really nice time of fellowship together and it was nice to share that time with everyone.

Caleb and Isabelle had such a fun week at their grandparent's house this past week, getting to go to camp, the children's museum, play with their cousins, and all sorts of fun things. They even brought their cousins back with them to play here for the weekend!

Isabelle is in these pictures, too, but is standing behind Caleb


Great smile!


Caleb and Elijah

Isabelle and Gracie Beth

Judson at 6 weeks

I took some cute pictures the other day and just had to post them. Of course I am a little biased, but don't you think that Judson is just the cutest baby ever?!? He is definitely giving us lots more sweet expessions now, so it is easier to catch it on camera. I will take some video clips and try to get those uploaded soon, so stay tuned...

Isabelle's new haircut

Isabelle got her hair cut- short! She has been asking for a while to get it cut short, (like her friend Sarah's hair) so we went to have it done this morning. Caleb got his hair cut at the barber shop on base first, and then we went right next door to the beauty salon where Isabelle had her hair appointment. I think it looks really cute and it will be so much easier to manage. She is very proud of her new hair style and keeps asking me if I like it. It definitely makes her look older, though!

4th of July and 1st smiles

On the fouth of July, Judson smiled responsively for the first time! He has smiled before, but not as a result of anyone trying to get him to smile. He was grinning and smiling at us and it was so much fun to see his cute little expressions. Caleb and Isabelle enjoyed trying to get him to smile at them, too. To celebrate the 4th, we grilled out in the afternoon, and then just relaxed for the rest of the day and did some sparklers and smoke bombs and small fireworks with the kids. We just walked down to the beach behind our house to watch the Destin fireworks, but just as the fireworks began, it started to rain on us. It was mainly just misty, but the wind was blowing it across the bay at us, so we started to head back to the house and watched the rest of them from our porch.

I can't believe that we have less than a month left here in Florida before we move! Although we are excited about getting to Jackson, it is definitely a bitter-sweet feeling to leave here. I am really going to miss our view and access to the water from our house, as well as our great friends and church family here. The summer is flying by so fast. I guess we have enough going on to keep us busy. The kids are going to Grandmamma and Granddaddy's house next week for Caleb to go to camp at Lynn Meadows Discvery Museum during the mornings, and Isabelle is going to hang out with the grandparents and cousins. Barrett and I are going to use that time to really try to get a lot done around the house to get ready to move. Time to clean out and de-clutter! I guess moving every three years for us has kept us from accumulating too much junk.

Judson is doing great and we are all adjusting to having a new family member in our household. It's almost hard to remember not having him here! He is sleeping well at night and beginning to stretch out his daytime feedings a little bit so it's making it easier for me.

Judson at 1 month old:

Some cute expressions:



Our "little firecracker"